Pak won’t take first step: Musharraf

We will not be the initiators. This is my guarantee,’’ he told reporters here.

Musharraf had in the past two days increased the tempo of the military tensions by issuing a series of warnings to take the war into Indian territory. Asked what message he had for PM A.B. Vajpayee, he said: ‘‘I am a soldier and know what destruction it (war) causes. I know what happens when your colleagues suffer and may be even die.

“I understand the miseries of war. There is need for both sides to avoid war. This is my message to PM Vajpayee,’’ he said after signing the trilateral gas pipeline project involving Pakistan, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan.

To a question on mediation, he said: ‘‘Any mediation helps. It does serve good purpose. We encourage mediation. (British Foreign Secretary) Jack Straw came here and we had a frank discussion with him. I am sure such third party interaction does help defuse the situation.’’

Earlier, the three countries agreed to resuscitate an ambitious and long-standing dream of a $2-billion pipeline from gas fields in Turkmenistan through Afghanistan to Pakistan’s Arabian Sea coast.

Analysts questioned the viability and security of the project but the three leaders said the end of more than two decades of fighting in Afghanistan meant conditions were finally right.

‘‘Now with the gradual return of peace and normality in Afghanistan, we are confident that this mega project will be realised in the near future,’’ said Musharraf, after signing the agreement with Afghan interim leader Hamid Karzai and Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov.